The Coccinella Correlation
by megfsc
Summary: Amy contemplates her life and relationship with Sheldon on Valentine's Day. Would this holiday just slip by as a normal day, or does Sheldon have more in store?


*****Note: This was written for Valentine's Day (sorry it's a little late), inspired by the crazy good people at the FF Shamy thread. This was my first time writing, and I cannot wait to do more. Any suggestions, comments, or criticism would be EXTREMELY appreciated. Thanks, and please enjoy! *****

Amy took a deep breath as she sunk into the purple down comforter on her bed. While she never considered herself to be a fan of purple, or any of those obnoxious girly colors that reside at the end of the spectrum, this bedding set was beginning to grow on her. Who was she kidding? She knew it would. After all, Penny helped her pick it out, and there was no doubt that_ her_ taste in interior design was impeccable.

She was thankful for her new social status. She had a group to which she belonged that was different than any other she had experienced. They weren't paid colleagues. They weren't dumb kids trying to cheat off of her in Biology class. They weren't bribed strangers that her mother had arranged to socialize with her. Those days were over. Amy had finally become popular. She had never been one to brag, but she finally considered herself an "it girl", a prom queen (after all, she had the tiara). She even had a boyfriend. Her dry scalp has seemed to have cleared up. Her bestie was giving her all types of hints about using makeup to accentuate her cheekbones. Her addiction studies have shown promising results merely in their preliminary stages. Oh yeah, and she had a _boyfriend_! Her life seemed to be everything she had ever hoped for. So why was she lying on her bed sobbing uncontrollably into her luxurious (and sensibly priced) new pillowcase? Why did she feel like her heart was sinking further than her body into the Amethyst-colored comforter? Why was this newly-crowned princess alone on Valentine's Day?

Drying her eyes, she turned over onto her back. In doing so, she noticed and began to observe a single tiny ladybug sitting atop one of the rapidly spinning blades of her ceiling fan. She laughed to herself. The fact was that she completely related to this insignificant beetle.

"Oh, Coccinella septempunctata," she sighed. "I know how you feel. Your dusty little world won't stop spinning…" she trailed off, "…rotating violently at a rate which you can barely process. It must be so exhilarating for you, and nauseating."

She thought about the rate at which her life had been moving lately. She specifically thought about her boyfriend, Sheldon.

"Sheldon, my boyfriend" she barely whispered.

She couldn't stop saying that phrase out loud. She noticed weeks back that her blood would quicken at the mention of his name, so naturally she tried to mention it as much as possible. But this time his name brought about frustration, confusion, sadness.

Their relationship was progressing so quickly, so beautifully. She was hanging on tight like that ladybug onto the fan blade. However tonight she was alone, on what is supposed to be a day for couples to be together. She had never spent a Valentine's Day with anyone, except for her mother, and one year a particularly testy Rhesus monkey.

Sheldon had made it very clear that they would have no plans and Valentine's Day would serve as a normal day, despite the "stupid" social convention. She remembered the thirteen and a half minutes he spent ranting about the absurdity of celebrating a holiday that is simply a commercial perversion of a religious feast day honoring a martyred priest. A year ago, she would have wholeheartedly agreed with his position… but a year ago she didn't have a boyfriend. Despite her efforts to convince Sheldon to do something romantic together, it became obvious that in his mind this issue was closed for discussion.

Still staring at that rotating ladybug, she grew frustrated and blurted out loud, "It doesn't matter the rate at which we are moving; we are still just going in circles, aren't we?"

After a bottle of wine (that Penny gave her in case of emotional emergency) followed by about 45 minutes of moody harp music, she decided to give it up and go to bed. Looking at her oven clock, she muttered, "Seven thirty on Valentine's night…pathetic." She proceeded into her bedroom and changed into her loose-fitting pajamas. With a bottomless sigh she turned out the light and closed her eyes.

Her rest only lasted a mere moment or two before she heard her favorite interruption.

_Knock Knock Knock, Amy?_

_Knock Knock Knock, Amy?_

_Knock Knock Knock, Amy?_

As she arose from her bed, she smiled at the thought of seeing her boyfriend on Valentine's Day! Was this some huge surprise? Had he planned something romantic all along? She ran to the door, all the while picturing her handsome fella in a suit displaying his stylish pocket watch, ready to whisk her away to a night of soul-ravaging passion!

Breathing deeply, restraining her emotion, she opened the door. There stood Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper dressed predictably in a less than amusing superhero tee shirt and jacket.

Disappointed, she began, "Hello Sheldon, what can I do for you?"

"_Well_", he said snidely while crossing his arms, "you can tell me why you have not been answering any of my calls, texts, emails, facebook messages, tweets, or instant messages all day."

Sheldon followed Amy as she walked into the kitchen to start working on a warm beverage.

"You made it very clear that you did not want to spend time with me on Valentine's Day, so in respect of your wishes, I made myself unavailable to you."

Sheldon raised his voice. "_Amy_, how can you expect me to go an entire day…" his voice cracked, "…without hearing your voi- uh—without speaking to you?"

Amy froze, nearly dropping Sheldon's favorite hot cocoa mug.

After hearing himself say that out loud, he turned away and walked into the living room to sit on the couch.

After seemingly endless silence, Amy began quietly, "Sheldon, I…"

"Amy, no." Sheldon broke in. "I did not come here to squabble with you; I came here to give you this."

Sheldon reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a large red envelope.

Amy, cautiously excited, walked over (abandoning the warm beverage) and stood next to the couch grabbing the envelope suspiciously from his hands.

Her mind was racing. Did he get her a sappy sweet card? She noticed that the envelope was thick. She smiled widely.

"Sheldon, I can't believe you! You made provisions to the Relationship Agreement, didn't you? You are a regular Don Juan, Dr. Cooper!" She struggled to open the envelope as Sheldon began shaking his head with a confused look, mouth slightly agape.

Amy squealed, "Oh, Sheldon, I can't believe you gave me…" she stopped mid-sentence as she removed the contents of the envelope, baffled.

"You gave me images of a brain?" Amy fumbled with over a dozen or so fMRI and PET brain scans as well as what seemed to be a detailed analysis.

"Not just _any _brain, Amy, _my_ brain! Isn't it just magnificent?" Sheldon beamed with pride.

Amy stood there flabbergasted, "Why, Sheldon?"

"Well Amy," Sheldon began, clearing his throat, "I try to go every year to get my annual recommended brain scan like every genius should."

"An annual recommended brain scan, while admirable, is not a thing Sheldon."

"Ok then", Sheldon averted his eyes. "Maybe I sneak into the neuro lab every year and pay a lab tech to operate the machines. Pretty neat, huh?"

"It's all very fascinating" Amy said with a sarcastic tone (that Sheldon missed, of course). "But the question remains: Why are you giving these to me?" Amy began to raise her voice slightly.

"Why would you come here on Valentine's Day, to do nothing but brag about your stupid annual brain scans?" As much as Amy tried to control her emotions, she could not hold back much longer. She was breathing heavily, nearly livid.

"I want you to read the analysis, Amy. You are after all a neurobiologist. I want your expertise," he said defensively looking away.

Amy couldn't take it anymore. "Sheldon, of all the selfish, inconsiderate, inconceivab-".

Sheldon quickly grabbed Amy's hand. In that split second her heart stopped beating. She could no longer scream at the top of her lungs because there was no air left in them.

Sheldon gripped her hand tightly and looked straight into her eyes…piercing her eyes with his stare, it almost hurt to look at him.

"Amy, please," he said calmly, strongly.

Amy felt as if the world stopped. Whether she wanted to or not, her body gravitated toward the seat next to Sheldon as he pulled her hand down, and then released it.

She took a deep sigh, "Very well."

After briefly looking over the images, she began skimming through the detailed analysis. As she expected, his brain was a wonder. But she still couldn't figure out why he wanted her opinion. Was this all just so she could tell him how great he was and stroke his ego? What was this about? As she was reading she could feel Sheldon staring at her intensely, waiting. Then she came to an earmarked page with a short highlighted paragraph halfway down.

_Patient experienced unprecedented activity among dopamine and serotonin receptors; as well as increased concentration of oxytocin exclusively after repeated viewing of image 0113-labeled "Amy Farrah Fowler"._

She couldn't move. She couldn't even blink. _Oxytocin?_ She thought to herself. He had unprecedented release of oxytocin after looking at _her_?

She looked up with the beginnings of a tear in her eye to see Sheldon sitting patiently with his hands clasped in his lap and the tiniest smile on his face.

"You love me?" She could barely say it.

Sheldon began, "Well neuroscience has clearly shown that increased neurochemical release, especially oxytocin, point to the brain's reaction to a certain standard of affectiona—"

"_Do _you love me_?" _Amy interrupted.

"Well we are certainly going to have to proceed with several experimental follow ups and allow for a control and—"

"Sheldon!" Amy cried, exasperated.

"Okay," Sheldon smiled nervously. He began to fidget and breathe heavily.

"Amy, I do seem to—um—I …" He cleared his throat and then looked her in the eyes. There were those eyes again.

With his hands shaking, he leaned in close to her and barely whispered, "I love you, Amy."

She sat there trying to make that moment last forever. He gently smiled and reached for her hand. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. She hugged him tightly while he slowly wrapped his hands around her. She could feel his body quivering. She lightly kissed his ear, feeling hard goose bumps all over his arms and neck. He let out a quiet moan before jerking back quickly.

"Amy, I am very hungry", he yelped nervously. "Would you like to go to one of our approved dining establishments for dinner?"

Amy happily respected his wishes and stood up. Sheldon took a deep breath of relief.

"Sheldon, just one thing: why were you looking at an image of me during a brain scan anyway?"

Sheldon smirked. "Well, if you can believe it, MRI machines make me very nervous. I often get panicked and claustrophobic, so I have them play a slideshow of my favorite things. Mee-Maw, koalas, lovey dovey, and this year you made the list. It calmed me down and worked like a charm. My brain really _is_ a wonder."

"Indeed it is, Amy laughed. "Just give me a minute to change out of these pajamas into some actual clothes, and then we can go to dinner."

Sheldon stood up and walked to the door to wait. "Alright."

Just before she went into her bedroom, she turned back.

"Sheldon", she called to him.

Brought out of his distraction, he replied "What is it?"

"I love you too" Amy gushed.

Sheldon displayed a derisive smirk while shaking his head. "Now _Amy, _you _know_ we have no way of knowing that until we book your annual recommended brain scan, followed by repeat scans to confirm the results of course."

"Whatever you say, Dr. C", she laughed as she entered her room.

Before closing the door to change, she took a minute to secretly admire her boyfriend, and her heart skipped a beat as she witnessed him lean his head down and to the side while displaying the biggest grin she had ever seen.

Her heart was filled with love and air and nausea and who knows what else as she closed her door and got dressed. Before turning out the light to leave she noticed that the ceiling fan was still rotating quickly. She turned it off and waited for the blade to nearly stop before she saw not one, but two ladybugs fly off of the ceiling fan together. "No more going in circles", she whispered to herself.

Exiting her room quickly, she thought to herself that this would be a Valentine's Day she would never forget. She grabbed her tiara on her way out. She was a princess tonight.


End file.
